


Strawberry Milkshake

by UnicornAffair



Category: Power Rangers Dino Charge, Power Rangers Ninja Steel
Genre: Background Relationships, F/F, Sorry this one isn't the most kind to Sarah and Calvin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 18:08:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14624187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornAffair/pseuds/UnicornAffair
Summary: When Hayley's heart was shattered by her boyfriend and so called best friend, she looked to making a new start. She moved across state to Amber Beach in hopes of getting over her pain and taking a new path. One away from Summer Cove and past memories. It wasn't hard to get a job at the Dino Bite cafe, there she met new friends and more importantly caught the eye of the cute (but clumsy) waitress, Shelby Watkins.





	Strawberry Milkshake

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jadedsunshine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadedsunshine/gifts).



> Hey remember that time we were talking on the phone and it had to have been like, midnight? And you were all Shelby and Hayley should be a couple! You came up with this idea of Hayley moving to Amber Beach and being with the Dino Charge kids...well. I wrote it <3 Happy Birthday!!
> 
> (The Preston looking like Koda thing is in reference to the actors being brothers)

Hayley Foster needed to leave Summer Cove, to start a new life, away from the people she used to consider her team...away from the people she had loved with all her heart, but only left a knife in her back. She didn’t want to know the answers that kept replaying in her mind, how did this happen? When did this happen? Were they ever going to tell her? Why couldn’t he have just broken up with her before getting on top of her best friend? Calvin and Sarah. The two people who she trusted the  _ most _ were hooking up behind her back. Galvanax had been defeated, the rangers had graduated from high school. She didn’t have a sacred duty to hold onto here, not anymore. So Hayley set her sights on somewhere far away. Amber Beach. That sounded like a great new place to start. 

It wasn’t exactly  _ easy _ to move from northern California to southern California without much of a plan. She would need a place to live that wasn’t her car, specifically a place that would take a dog...there was no way she would leave Kody behind. She’d also need a  _ job _ to pay for future rent. Fun and fun, with only a high school degree it severely limited her options. Her dad wasn’t going to feel comfortable sending her  _ alone _ to a new city to live on the streets. So he helped her find a place, pay for the first three months rent under the condition that she would find herself a job and start making payments of her own. She loved her dad so much for doing this. Hayley didn’t even have to tell him  _ why _ she wanted to move, he just supported her without question. Thank God too, it was hard enough  _ seeing _ them together, but to relive it through explanation would just be that much worse. Though, rent was going to suck if she didn’t find a  _ roommate _ soon. She could worry about that bit later.

First things first. She needed to find a  _ job.  _ A place called the Dino Bite Cafe was looking for a new waitress, that didn’t seem like it would be that hard of a job. Hayley always considered herself great with people, and with the restaurant being attached to a museum it could mean for less frustrating customers. If anything it was a place to start. 

Even though Hayley had left the ranger life behind she could never stray away from her color, it felt like good luck. A nice white blouse, and some nice clean jeans, it was the best she had at the moment. It would have to do. “I’ll be back later today” Hayley crouched down to kiss the top of her trusty husky’s head, “Be  _ good _ while I’m gone”

*****

Shelby Watkins was growing tired of just being a waitress at the dino bite cafe. She used to be a Power Ranger! One of the  _ best.  _ Though their time as rangers was done, heck, there was even another team popping up in Summer Cove out to save the day. The sun set on the Dino Charge rangers and rose for the Ninja Steel ones. Shelby would  _ never _ trade her dino powers for anything, but ninjas? She had to admit, that was pretty cool. Either way, she was  _ retired _ now and focused on getting a degree at the local university. Working at the museum was a way to earn some rent money while keeping close with her former ranger family. 

No more Koda, no more Ivan, they had both gone back to their time periods where they rightfully belonged. Tyler and Shelby didn’t exactly stay together after everything, it was much easier when they were fighting aliens, fighting side by side. With the world constantly being in danger, it was easy to get wrapped up in one another. There were no hard feelings at the break up, their lives were on seperate tracks, he had  _ so  _ much catching up to do with his father, and she got busy with school. Really, the only ones that had stuck around after everything was said and done was the likes of Riley Griffin and Chase Randall, and of course the one and only Ms. Kendall Morgan. The former green and black rangers kicked up and started a relationship, it was about damn time really, and Shelby couldn’t be happier for the couple. Even if it sometimes sucked to share an apartment with them. She loved them dearly, but she had walked in on them one too many times.

“One strawberry milkshake coming right up” Shelby Watkins had always meant to be an archaeologist, a paleontologist, an adventurer she was far too clumsy to be a waitress and this slip up was  _ not _ good. Horrified, she watched as the bright pink milkshake claimed it’s victim in Shelby’s customer...a pretty girl who unfortunately decided to wear white today. “Oh no! No, no, no” Riley and Chase could only watch from the kitchen as Shelby desperately tried to pull up napkins to sap up milkshake from the table. “I am SO sorry”

“It’s okay, it’s okay” The girl covered in milkshake at least wasn’t screaming at her, Shelby never knew which patrons were the type to snap at her for making a mistake. She stood to her feet, grabbing a few napkins to try and dab at her shirt, “My fault for wearing white” She smiled in Shelby’s direction and the waitress felt like she was struck by lightning. The former pink ranger had been  _ so _ wrapped up in trying to clean up that she didn’t notice the natural beauty of the other girl---not girl... _ goddess.  _ Tall, dark, and beautiful. Oh no. Oh no she’s  _ hot. _

“No-no this is totally my fault. God.” Shelby was stumbling over her words, over herself, “Can I get a replacement shake over here? And uh a side of fries!” 

“Oh you don’t have to do that” The taller girl shook her head, smiling apologetically, “Really, it was just a mistake”

“A side of fries is the  _ least _ I can do” Shelby’s shoulders slumped, her eyes traveling up and down this stranger’ top.  _ Totally _ not an effort to check her out, she wanted to see if she just completely ruined this girls blouse...thin, white blouse oh this girl picked the wrong day to wear a light pink bra. Shelby you idiot.

Oh no, if matters couldn’t be  _ worse _ in this very moment, Kendall Morgan had come down from her office, a clipboard in hand. She approached Shelby and the customer and sighed, disappointed that after all this time Shelby really was  _ this  _ clumsy. “I see you’ve met Shelby first hand. I apologize for this” She extended her hand to the girl, “You must be Hayley”

“Yep, that’s me” The young woman took Kendall’s hand to shake, oh  _ god.  _ Shelby wanted to crawl into the lab downstairs and hide in Koda’s old room. Kendall had warned the dino bite crew that someone would be coming in to interview, and here Shelby was just spilling stuff all over her. “Pleasure to meet you”

“Don’t worry, I’m not holding this” She motioned to Hayley’s now ruined outfit, “Against you” 

Riley came out with a new milkshake and a complimentary order of fries, “Here we go, all good and new”

“We’re going to take this into my office. Thank you Riley”  Kendall didn’t allow food in her office for the very reason of accidental spillage. Though she could make an exception for the poor girl who just had a frozen treat dumped on her. She took the fries from the boy and motioned for Hayley to follow her. 

The former green and pink ranger watched as Ms. Morgan led Hayley out of the cafe and in the direction of her office. Shelby still felt  _ horrible _ about the situation, what made matters worse was when Riley commented with a light smile, “She’s cute” More like stunning, but okay Riley, go with cute.

“Oh ha” Shelby sat down and took a sip of what was supposed to be Hayley’s strawberry milkshake, the other girl couldn’t even take it with her so there was no use in letting it go to waste, “I didn’t notice” 

*****

Kendall Morgan was in desperate need of some help at the Dino Bite Cafe. Hayley had been in luck that the museum curator had a shortage of staff, she was practically hired  _ that day.  _ Waitressing came pretty easy to the white ranger, she could easily serve up bronto burgers with a smile. Her co-workers were really a blessing as well, all of them were around her age, they were nothing but helpful with her adjustment process. Chase was an absolute jokester, he loved to laugh and even though he didn’t have the  _ best _ work ethic he managed to keep a fun balance to his boyfriend Riley’s more focus on the job kind of attitude. Then there was Shelby, the clumsy girl who constantly got orders wrong or would drop plates. She was adorable to say the least, but definitely not suited for a job like this.

One day around closing time, Hayley and Shelby were busing tables for the night when Hayley noticed the pink stone that her co-worker always wore around her neck. “That’s really pretty” She observed, “What is it?” 

“Oh” Shelby’s eyes widened, Chase and Riley had similar ones as well and were subtly trying to hide their necklaces under their shirts. Hayley could pretend she didn’t see their actions, which made the stones all too curious. “Um, it’s nothing special. I just like it” So she wore it every day, “Pink’s my favorite color” Pink. The unwanted connotation of Sarah, of her best friend... _ ex-best friend  _ started to flood to her mind. 

No. 

Shelby  _ wasn’t _ Sarah. This was a new town, with new friends. She left that life behind...or so she thought. 

“Hi, um, I’m looking for Hayley Foster” A familiar voice spoke drawing the attention of the room. Shelby let out a breath of relief that the topic of conversation had shifted from the gemstone she constantly wore around her neck. A blast from the past, Preston Tien stood in the doorway, looking dapper as ever in a blue blazer. His smile was wide as his friend shot over to him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. “Your dad told me you’d be here”

“What are you doing in town?” Hayley held onto her arms, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing, the blue ninja steel ranger here in the flesh. “Did my dad send you?”

“I wanted to see how you were doing” He smiled, “...We can catch up later. I want to know about your new life.”

Shelby, walked over to Chase and Riley, pointing their attention to Preston...something about him looked  _ so  _ familiar. The three were chattering amongst themselves by the time Hayley had taken her friend over to introduce him to her co-workers, “Guys, this is my friend Preston from back home. This is Riley, Chase and Shelby” Riley was the first one to offer his hand to Preston, Chase and Shelby still were eyeing him strange. 

“Um, hi?” Preston was quick to pick up on the fact that these co-workers had been watching him quite oddly. 

“Sorry mate” Chase apologized, “You just remind us of someone who used to work here” 

*****

“They’re good people” Hayley commented as she entered her apartment, her faithful dog Kody greeting her as soon as she opened the door. “Hey, look who’s here, it’s Preston!” She bent down to her husky’s level to ruffle up his fur, “I missed you so much today”

Preston entered the apartment and took a long look around, there was no way Hayley would be able to afford this place on her own working at that cafe. “Are you happy here?” He asked, seemingly out of the blue, usually one would work up to that kind of loaded question.

“It’s a place where I’m not constantly reminded of them” Hayley shrugged, heading into the kitchen so she could give Kody his dinner,  “I’m sorry, I know you’re still friends with them but…”

Preston shook his head, sure, he was still friends with the yellow and pink rangers but he was  _ also _ friends with the white ranger as well. Being in the middle wasn’t easy. Brody had his brother Levi. Hayley didn’t have  _ anyone _ out here. “You don’t have to apologize”

“How are they?” She asked, when Preston awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, trying to find any words she knew. They were  _ happy.  _ Somehow that felt worse. “Forget I asked”

“I  _ do _ have some good news” Preston tapped his fingertips together, “I’ve been accepted into the Amber Beach college of Art” He bobbed his head from side to side, “And I’ve been sort of looking for a place to  _ live _ if you know any good places”

Hayley practically squealed at the news, she shot from her kitchen to embrace him in yet another hug. “You are always welcome to stay here. Oh my god!” 

Now she wouldn’t have to feel so alone.

*****

Hayley’s friend Preston also applied and was hired on the spot by Ms. Morgan. Him joining the staff had been a blessing in disguise as now Kendall didn’t have any qualms for firing Shelby as a waitress and hiring her as her assistant at the museum. Now she was hoping she’d have few customer complaints and low star ratings on google via Shelby’s mishaps and mistakes. Chase and Riley were quick to welcome in Preston to their little ragtag gang. He  _ wasn’t _ Koda, no man could ever have the boys appetite. Having someone else there started to fill the holes left by Tyler, Koda and Ivan.

The five of them started to go out on the town together. Chase and Riley insisted that they show Hayley and Preston the lay of the Amber Beach city. The group had  _ fun,  _ went bowling, saw some indie bands, movies, having “family dinner”. Going to the beach had been a particularly interesting day for Shelby….Hayley in a white bikini had been an absolute blessing. Preston’s body surprisingly could turn heads as well but  _ Hayley.  _ Wow. That was also the day Shelby was hit in the head with a beach ball, thanks to Chase, because she was too busy staring. 

It was just a little crush. No big deal. None whatsoever. 

Now that Shelby worked directly under Kendall, it meant she couldn’t spend as much time in the cafe with her friends. She would have to come up with excuses to come down and more importantly, to see Hayley during work hours. “Hey” Shelby greeted Hayley with a lopsided grin, just a  _ little _ crush. “Can I get two bronto burgers, two orders of fries and um...two waters? Um, to go”

Hayley didn’t need to write down such a basic order, instead she tilted her head to the side, “No strawberry milkshake today?” Hayley asked with a kind smile, “I know it’s your favorite” She wasn’t wrong.

“You just want a bigger tip” Shelby tried to play it sly, but in her head she chastised herself with an,  _ ‘Oh my god you’re such a dork’.  _ “Okay,  _ one _ strawberry milkshake”

“Coming right up” Hayley punctuated with a wink, she might as well had just taken Shelby’s breath away with her while she was at it. 

Was Shelby  _ this _ obvious when she had a major crush on Tyler?

Ms. Morgan had come down from her office and sat herself at a table in the cafe. As it was her cafe, she could do whatever she pleased. Oh  _ no. _ She was ruining  _ everything.  _ Shelby hurried over to the former purple ranger. “What’re you doing?”

“Oh there you are” Kendall didn’t get it, “You said we were having lunch, so I took it upon myself to meet you down here” She motioned across from her, “Sit”

Shelby wanted to scream, but she had to hold it all in. Ms. Morgan was her  _ superior _ after all.  She sat down, keeping her hands folded in her lap, “I could’ve brought lunch to you”

“Nonsense” Kendall waved Shelby off, she then started to rummage through her messenger bag as if she was going to start laying down plans right here at the table.  _ Not good. _

Hayley set a to go bag down at the end of their table. The dino bite cafe had many signature to go cups when it came to their milkshakes, Hayley knew Shelby well enough to get her the one with a triceratops on it. “...I thought you said this was a to go order” Now Hayley felt foolish, she knew she was paying attention…

“It  _ is”  _ Shelby looked across the table, praying,  _ praying _ that Kendall would understand and just go along with it. “We were just going to take this into Ms. Morgan’s office”

Kendall eyed the milkshake, clumsy Shelby wouldn’t go  _ anywhere _ near her office with that sugar bomb of a mess waiting to happen.  _ “Actually”  _ Shelby pleaded with Kendall with big brown eyes, “It’s such a nice day, we’re going to go to the park”  _ Yes.  _ Oh did Shelby owe her boss one. 

*****

Like Ms. Morgan had said, they would go to the park to enjoy their lunch. The two had found a nice picnic bench under a tree to provide just enough shade to keep them cool on this warm summers day. Kendall watched her intern intently as the younger girl kept using her straw to churn her milkshake. Up and down to drive the former purple ranger crazy.  _ “Shelby” _

“Sorry” She sighed, “What did you want to go over?” She took a sip of her milkshake, her eyes widening with excitement when Kendall didn’t respond right away, “Are we going on a dig? When are we going? What should I pack?”

“No... _ no”  _ Ms. Morgan could talk to Shelby about a potential dig later, “You should ask Hayley out, clearly you have a crush on her” Shelby’s jaw dropped. Kendall  _ knew!? _ “Close your mouth, you look like a trout” 

“I….” Shelby stuttered, trying to find words,  _ any _ words to rebuff this, “I  _ so _ do  _ not _ have a crush on Hayley. She’s my friend”

Kendall’s brow arched, “Why are you denying this?” As power rangers, Shelby and Kendall didn’t exactly get off on the right foot...but as the battles went on their bond grew stronger. On a team of  _ ten _ with only  _ two _ girls, the two were quick to form a bond. In a way Kendall became more than just a mentor to Shelby, she idolized the woman professionally, but when they weren’t on the job...Kendall became like an older sister to her. “She’s cute, she’s single, you and Tyler are  _ over”  _ She sighed, “You’re allowed to move on with your life”

“She’s my friend, she’s my friend, and oh, I have no idea if she likes  _ girls _ let alone  _ me”  _ Shelby listed off, counting on her fingers at each point she was making. 

“Shelby, what are the basics of the scientific method?” Kendall wasn’t going to let Shelby talk herself out of it, “A hypothesis. Is Hayley into girls? You’ll conduct a simple experiment by  _ asking her out _ and then you’ll get results”

“Okay you did not just” Shelby held onto the bridge of her nose, why was Kendall  _ like _ this? “One. You are  _ not _ an expert. Two. Even if she’s into girls she could still say  _ no _ to me. Three. When was the last time you had a girlfriend?”

Kendall frowned, “Just because I don’t have a  _ girlfriend _ doesn’t mean I don’t go on  _ dates.”  _ The former purple ranger squared up her shoulders and stated as a matter of factly as possible, “I happen to have a very healthy social life” Amazing what they could accomplish when they weren’t trying to defend the city from aliens out for their energems. “With many viable options”

“Okay gross” Shelby did  _ not _ want to hear the details of Ms. Morgan’s  _ social life.  _ “I just don’t want to ruin what we have.”

“The pink ranger  _ I  _ know isn’t afraid to take risks” Kendall nodded her head, she couldn’t make Shelby do anything she didn’t want to, “Just think of the payoff if she says yes, ask yourself if it’s worth it”

Shelby hated when Ms. Morgan was right, of course it would be  _ worth it.  _ Hayley Foster is one of the most amazing girls Shelby had ever rested eyes on. 

*****

When Shelby and Kendall left the Dino Bite Cafe, Hayley sighed and watched them leave. She missed being around Shelby  _ all _ the time for work. Not just because she’d have another girl around, but because Shelby was so light, so  _ fun _ to be around. The girl with an affinity for pink always managed to get Hayley to smile, to laugh. The world wasn’t so dark anymore with Shelby around to brighten it up….the boys were okay too.

Preston took notice in the way Hayley’s shoulders slumped when she returned to the kitchen. Weird, she was just in a good mood. “Everything okay?” The magician in training asked with a tilt of his head. Him in the cafe uniform was so different than his usual high end apparel. 

“Yeah, no, I’m fine” Hayley moved to start refilling the squeezable ketchup containers. 

The white ranger would sometimes have bad days when something reminded her of Calvin and Sarah. Preston knew he had to tread lightly around  _ that _ sensitive subject, “You know you can talk to me, about  _ anything.  _ I’m here for you”

“I want to move on” Hayley didn’t look away from her task at hand, squeezing ketchup from one bottle to another took focus. “I think I’m ready to move on.” She paused to chance a glance over in Preston’s direction, “I have feelings for someone…”

“Shelby” Preston concluded, Hayley frowned, was she that easy to read? The blue ranger reached over to halt the ketchup squeezing process, “So what’s holding you back?”

“I’m scared of putting myself out there again” She could always be honest with Preston, he had been with her through the worst times of her life. Aliens, cheating boyfriends, bugs in their apartment. “What if this blows up in my face?”

Preston shook his head, “You know love is a lot like magic” Hayley sighed, wanting him to take this seriously, “Hear me out!” He knew she had her doubts, “It takes a lot of work to get a trick down right. Sometimes the doves fly out too early or the rabbit eats a part of my top hat. Mistakes happen, but you have to keep on trying. The show must go on as they say” Preston rested a hand on her shoulder, “Because when you  _ do _ perfect that trick...it’s the greatest feeling, awe inspiring” He smiled, “You’re allowed to move on with your life”

“So I should ask her out” She concluded, nodding her head, “What’s the worst that can happen?”

“She’s an alien spy who’s going to steal your ninja star the moment you let your guard down” 

_ “Why?”  _ She paused glancing toward the door, “You don’t think…”

“I’m kidding!” He laughed, “A little  _ ranger humor”  _ Preston lowered his voice, any second Riley or Chase could step into the kitchen and make their presence known. Anything ranger related needed to be on the down low. It was safer for their co-workers, their friends, their potential girlfriends if they  _ didn’t  _ know their ranger sized secret. “Ask her out, see if you can start your own magic”

Her own magic. She was  _ done _ feeling sorry for herself, or angry at Calvin and Sarah...it was time to get her own fire back, her spark. 

*****

After work that day, Chase, Riley and Preston watched on as Shelby visited the dino bite cafe. She came under the excuse of wanting a strawberry milkshake to go. Preston urged Hayley that  _ this _ would be her chance to make her move. Chase and Riley didn’t need much time to be filled in on what was going around, they  _ knew _ first hand when Shelby had a crush on someone. They lived through her pining feelings for Tyler, her infatuation with Sir Ivan and they could have  _ sworn _ at one point she had it pretty bad for Kendall Morgan. No, they absolutely knew that Shelby had a crush on their new friend Hayley...but it was news to them that Hayley liked Shelby back. 

“One strawberry milkshake to go” Hayley handed Shelby her usual cup, the triceratops one, because that was the girls’ favorite. “Two in one day?”

“Ha” Shelby rubbed the back of her neck, “How else am I going to get to visit you?” By literally ordering anything else, but that's besides the point.

There was an awkward pause, a silence, for the boys watching in anticipation this was the  _ worst. _ The two girls who clearly had feelings for one another just  _ stood _ there, awkwardly smiling, unsure how to make take the plunge. Preston was  _ positive _ that Hayley had made the first move on Calvin back when they first started dating, maybe she was too scared, too nervous of history repeating itself. 

“Hey, so there’s something” “I was wondering” Both girls started at the same time, laughing to ease the tension, now they were talking over each other.

“Oh my god” Riley murmured, keeping his voice low. The three boys did  _ not _ want the two girls to notice that they were watching this. “We weren’t like this?”

“Nah” Chase shook his head, grinning in Riley’s direction with a, “Asking you out was easy. You said yes before I could even finish. So  _ eager” _ He chuckled softly, “You had it bad”

_ “Stop”  _ Riley’s cheeks reddened, embarrassed, he leaned forward to address Preston, “He’s exaggerating” 

Preston put a finger to his lips to shush the couple, they were going to get their cover blown.

“Sorry, you go” Hayley motioned Shelby to speak. 

Shelby shook her head, nervously laughing, “No, no, I cut you off, I’m sorry”

Neither wanted to be the first one to say it, so Hayley fought once more with a, “It’s really okay, you sounded like you had something important” 

The boys in the kitchen stared at them in disbelief, they were  _ literally _ so close and were now dancing around who was going to be the one to speak. It felt like actual torture watching these two muster up the guts to just  _ go _ for it. “Come on Shelby” Riley whispered, hoping for the best for his friend.

“Right, okay, so I was wondering…” Shelby took a long, long sip of her milkshake to buy herself some time and think of exactly how she was going to word this, “Um. So you know the new  _ Jurassic World _ movie is coming out this weekend, and I was wondering uh, if you wanted to go with me”

Preston’s eyes went  _ wide _ Shelby asked Hayley out to go to a  _ dinosaur movie? _ A  _ scary,  _ thrilling dinosaur movie where  _ people _ were going to get eaten? Chase nodded his approval, it was totally a movie he wanted to see so he nudged Riley’s arm, hinting that  _ they _ should also try and make movie date plans.

“Oh” Hayley wasn’t  _ huge _ on dinosaurs but she knew how much Shelby loved them, “Yeah, sure, I would love to” Now it was her turn to take a stab at it, “Maybe we can go to dinner first?” 

“Yeah! Yeah I  _ love _ dinner” Shelby wanted to mentally slap herself at jumping too quickly,  _ idiot.  _ “Um, so Friday?” Hayley nodded, Friday sounded fine to her, “Cool it’ll be a date” Shelby grinned, proud of herself for making it through.

Hayley wanted Shelby to absolutely be sure to what her intentions were, she lightly held onto Shelby’s arm and leaned down to kiss her cheek, “It’s a  _ date” _ The two were so invested in one another that they didn’t notice Chase pumping his arms into the air, or Riley and Preston fist bumping. 

Shelby was  _ so _ taken aback by the kiss that she squeezed the cup of strawberry milkshake in her hand so tightly that the pink contents of the cup shot up, covering Hayley with its contents. Oh  _ no.  _ Horrified Shelby was quick to apologize, “I am  _ so _ sorry! Oh my god!”

“It’s okay” Hayley put a hand up, oh it was so cold, Shelby was quick to bring her some napkins. “I really need to stop wearing white around you” She couldn’t help but laugh, “You’re a human disaster”

“Oh god, oh god” Shelby couldn’t help but laugh as well, helping Hayley dab at the strawberry milkshake threatening to stain her clothes... _ again.  _ “Well, dinner is  _ totally _ on me” She had to offer something to try and make things right with Hayley. 

The tension and the worry of asking the other girl out vanished and had been replaced with laughter. Hayley could feel in this moment that her life would be changing yet again. She could move on from the pain and the hurt that her ex’s had left and start  _ breathing _ and  _ laughing _ and enjoying life again with the bubbly, clumsy, dinosaur loving, Shelby Watkins. The weight on her chest had lifted, she wasn’t going to be held back by an anchor anymore. The boys in the kitchen were right to celebrate.   

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it <3


End file.
